🔗 Share this article

The English side's training sessions for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in the subcontinent in the coming month brought them on midweek to a chilly, rainy New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the final practice run before their next match against the Kiwis inside. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series fulfill, what useful lessons could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least a squad member, that is not an issue.

The Batter's Changed Position: Starting Batsman to Middle Order

Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is undeniably true. After building his name as a top-order batter, primarily as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself a totally new role, coming in at five or six. “I didn't have too many discussions,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the team and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Before his recall in the summer, the vast majority of Banton’s over 160 professional T20 appearances had been as an starting batsman, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for seven balls at No 7 in a domestic T20 game previously – at fourth place. If England plan to retain him in this new position he requires every chance to get used to it, and he has already worked out a key point: “Batting in the middle order,” he concluded, “is a much tougher than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in New Zealand

The player noted that “sometimes where it comes off and it appears brilliant and on other occasions where it doesn’t”, and the first two games of the winter in the host nation have seen one of each. In the opener, he faced a few deliveries and made a low score before getting out to the deep fielder; in the next game, he faced 12 deliveries, scored 29, and ended the innings unbeaten.

Reflections on Return and Development

This tour has seen Banton return to the nation in which he made his international debut in November 2019. After that, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in 2022 and then spent a long period in the wilderness before returning for the new captain's first T20 as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “Time has passed when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has occurred in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I got dropped from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year stretch where I was working myself out.”

Support from Coaching Staff

Currently, he has been given a fresh challenge to work out. Banton is thankful to have been offered a return, and also for the coach's skill to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to seize the opportunity. “Baz came up to me before [Monday’s second T20] and said, ‘Go out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that liberty,” Banton said. “I realize it’s just a brief comment from the staff, but it provides the support that if it doesn't work, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so minor but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the backing from the head coach and I can go out and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the first two games of the series at Christchurch’s Hagley Park, a venue with expansive playing area, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at Eden Park, a dual-purpose sports facility where the field edge at a short distance is among the shortest in the sport. With changeable conditions and an unfamiliar venue they have dropped their usual practice of revealing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the same as the side that began both previous games.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they move to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a somewhat changed squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt drop out, while four others join the squad. Most newcomers landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Ashes preparations means he will follow two days later, travelling with Mark Wood and Josh Tongue, fast bowlers who are also building towards the longer format in Australia but are not in the limited-overs team. As a result he will miss the first match at Bay Oval, the ground where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in a few years back.